Members of the Reading University archaeology team at the Severn Estuary

Stone Age people were smarter than they are given credit for, according to University of Reading researchers working on a threatened archaeological site.

The team has found evidence that Mesolithic people were adept at using tools and fire to make use of the land, thousands of years before farming began.

They have made discoveries from 7,500 years ago while working on the Severn Estuary at Goldcliff, near Newport, and their project has been featured in National Geographic magazine.

The evidence shows Stone Age people were more than just hunters, as past research has shown – they also made use of plants.

Professor Martin Bell, head of the university’s department of archaeology, who is leading the Severn Estuary project, said: “Previously it was thought that these people were mainly hunting deer and simply responding to the spectacular environmental changes around them, such as sea level rise.

“Now there is increasing evidence that they were adept at manipulating their environment to increase valued plant resources.”

The team found charcoal remains which suggest people used fire to encourage growth of plants such as hazelnuts, crab apples and raspberries, which they believe were all eaten.

Prof Bell said: “Combining our finds with the trees, pollen and insects from the area, we can build a picture of the environmental relationships of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers.

“These people were highly adaptable and continued using the same site as the environment changed dramatically from old woodland to reed swamp, to saltmarsh and back to fen woodland.”

Researchers from the university have also found Stone Age footprints belonging to humans, animals and birds at Goldcliff over the last two summers.

Prof Bell said: “The 7,500-year-old footprint trails show how the activity areas represented by flint tools and bones articulated together as part of a living Stone Age landscape.

“The footprints include those made by children, which is extremely exciting as the role of children tends not to be visible in the archaeological record.

“They show youngsters as young as four were actively engaged in the productive activities of the community.”

However, the professor is warning plans for a Severn tidal barrage to produce hydroelectric power would impact on the archaeological area.

He said: “The tidal range will be reduced, sites will be permanently submerged, sedimentation will increase in some areas and as patterns of erosion change, some sites, including those with exceptional preservation of organic artefacts may be rapidly destroyed.”